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It was Miles Jupp who asked the question.
Warsi was actually good humoured last night.
She always is, she's got form for being openly critical of government policy and stated that she thinks we should feed hungry kids.
Sadly, she's part of a dying breed of One Nation Conservatives.
Sorry, yes Miles Jupp asked the drink question. Hislop followed up with the drugs question.
One Nation Conservatives
Rapidly being replaced with National Socialist Conservatives.
fail to re-invest the money made in new council housing.
Bit late to the thread- it wasn’t a failure to re-invest, councils were prevented from building. Central govt forced them to keeep cash reserves.I was part of an audit team auditing a local borough council in the late 80s - they were very cash rich
His time grows short
I'm sceptical that it will have to get much worse before Gove becomes palatable tho
https://twitter.com/StephenMangan/status/1322508679673978880?s=19
I think it's fair to say that Rory Stewart is not fond of our Boris.
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/boris-johnson-tom-bower-book-review-rory-stewart/
What an unbelievable bumbling idiot doing a poor Tim Nice But Dim impression on the Downing Street briefing. He actually says UM and ER more than any other words now. Almost completely incomprehensible.
He's an absolute fool. A bumbling idiot.
He now seems to have applied his 'Brexit' strategy to Covid. Simply repeating that everything's going to be brilliant, and if he just says it enough times then we'll all believe it, the test and trace system will miraculously sort itself out, people will stop that pesky habit of dying, and we can all look forward to a fabulous Christmas
What a complete bell end.|
Every time he opens his mouth, he just confirms that he clearly hasn't got a ****ing clue what he's doing. Still, I suppose that'll be the last we see of him for another couple of weeks
Still, I suppose that’ll be the last we see of him for another couple of weeks
His nannies probably stuck him under a cold shower for ten minutes, just enough to get him through a bit of time in the public eye. Then back to the voddy until the next time it is marginally less embarrassing to bumble in public than just hide away.
Useless pillock.
Just picked up on a couple of S Heffer's points in this week's NS:
'now he appears to be pre-occcupied with personal issues' and 'reasons for his absence are said to be to do with his baroque private life'. Apparently the money obsessed Johnson was cleaned out by his last divorce. No wonder he looks like Flann O'Brien on a bad day.
Apparently the money obsessed Johnson was cleaned out by his last divorce.
My heart bleeds. At least in some regards he gets to see the consequences of his actions.
Now with Putin's position looking shaky and hoping for a no-prosecutions exit deal, psychopants and his sycophants just about voted out, Dido and the T and Ts, Biden supporting the Good Friday Agreement, lock down U-turns, domestic dramas, sliding in the polls, Russian dolls, Stanley out on the lash, they'll let Boris be target practice for a bit after Brexit then rusticate him on the grounds of ill-health and move on.
If this strengthens the 1922 Committee, then possibly Slivy Gove will be seen as too close to Cummings and we'll be landed with some other star turn. Sadly, I can't see much opposition coming from Squarmer so it'll be the workplace or the streets or nothing at all (nb might not be the streets if Priti makes it illegal). What larks, eh?
My money would be on Hunt. I think the true driving forces behind Leave would like a remainer trying to repair the mess when they've lined their pockets. It gives them someone onto whom they can deflect the blame for their crimes.
and Hunt will perform the coup de grace on the NHS. With all the money he's shared with his mates, Boris will have bonzer retirement bashes (and returns on his investment) at Chequers, the Virgin Islands, Russia, Italy. Spencer has been dragged out to attempt another nail in the BBC coffin, might mean another bash at Althorp. A whole life built around jolly jollies and missing meetings.
A whole life built around jolly jollies and missing meetings.
Something about "we only need to be lucky once" whereas De Pfeffel might have to be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his days if the economic catastrophe he leaves behind is too bad.
I love the idea of Johnson negotiating with Ursula von der Leyen. He stands zero chance. smart, knows her stuff and as we all know Johnson does not have the emotional intelligence to deal with people like her. I'd love to have heard the phone call
Is this a bad hair day or a good hair day for the idiot in charge?
I've no idea what thread this should go in
But for all the bazillion s the government wastes on consultants & PR
How are they unable to use
Excel
PowerPoint
Photoshop...
https://twitter.com/matthewchampion/status/1326120070821650432?s=19
The more obvious question is why on earth you would use Photoshop in the first place for something entirely typographic?
The more obvious question is why on earth you would use Photoshop in the first place for something entirely typographic?
Because Dom paid someone ten grand to tell them that was the best way to do it.
that photoshop stuff is a load of rubbish, i grabbed the image from the boris twitter feed, and everything looks correct, no hidden messages, or such crap....
Did you grab the original one? I'd assume they would have swopped it by now.
ah, it seems to be true, but not sure how the twitter image got updated? the current one doesn't seem to have the same "hidden" text....my apologies
EDIT . it was the twitter compressed image i worked on, not the original....
A UK government spokesperson said: “As you’d expect, two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election. A technical error meant that parts of the alternative message were embedded in the background of the graphic.”
Unless the Graun are making up quotes it would suggest that 'our' government has just made things a little bit worse - basically by being incompetent. Still, entirely in keeping with this GINO's modus operandi and 'mission'.
In happier times one could have said "you'll never believe this", but frankly this wunch of bankers are capable of anything*.
*So long as it is a bit shit.
It looks like Carrie is now over-ruling her husband on government appointments.
https://twitter.com/themichaelmoran/status/1326507737493237760?s=21
We really are now a banana republic
Well, well - after johnson's public defence of lee cain today he's resigning (cain, not johnson).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54907188
Apparently 50:50 if Dom goes now, we can only hope
My political prediction for 2020 was a two parter - cummings gone by mid year and johnson by year end.
Wrong on both counts but I would settle for cummings out by year end as that would be an effective block on gove replacing johnson when he goes.
Reassuring to see three infighting during a pandemic and just before we crash out of the EU, eh?
On the day we hit 50k dead. Still, Tories...
Twitter rumour mill is saying if he goes he will take a bunch of the other aides with him, which, like you say is just lovely in the current situation but guess that's what you get having a non-party member as your top advisor
I was going to pour a glass of wine; scrub that - I'm off to pray for cummings departure.
Suggestion that David Frost might go as well, mind boggling
https://twitter.com/lisaocarroll/status/1326650740505534464
Trump out
COVID vaccine
Cummings out suggests the person with the lamp has put some thought in...
Twitter rumour mill is saying if he goes he will take a bunch of the other aides with him
That seems to have come from Laura Kuenssberg so liable to be spin from Cummings.
That seems to have come from Laura Kuenssberg so liable to be spin from Cummings.
No need to piss on our chips.
It's good to have a dream...
Newsnight are in a bit of a froth about this.
It's nearly time for a national orgasm...
It’s nearly time for a national orgasm…
I think the PM has done quite enough spaffing on behalf of the nation already, thank you.
Surprisingly, DomCum appears to have decided against walking...
Lee Cain's replacement is to be James Slack...He's the journalist responsible for the "Enemies of the People" headline in the Daily Mail.
One out, one in...
I suppose we can't read much hope into this like Cain is going because Johnson is about to cave to the EU and Cummings will go with him....
More like Boris's bit of window dressing (Carrie) fancies herself as a latter day Imelda Marcos and we really do have a government fit for a banana republic and based heavily on the Trump model.
Trump out
COVID vaccine
Cummings out suggests the person with the lamp has put some thought in…
That cheered me up, though subsequent stories suggest they've decided to save the third wish for later
That cheered me up, though subsequent stories suggest they’ve decided to save the third wish for later
He's there to look after his paymasters' interests and hold De Pfeffel's feet to the fire for No Deal. He ain't going nowhere.
This is related to Biden
With trump gone brexiteers know that they now have even less leverage with EU
The most convincing comment I have read about this painted it as a "Conservatives against Brexiteers" struggle. Senior tories have long complained that Cummings et al are not really conservatives, and now Brexit is done they want their party back.
More like Boris’s bit of window dressing (Carrie) fancies herself as a latter day Imelda Marcos
Not quite; she is a former head of comms for the tories so has/should have some understanding of what works and what doesn't.
DomCum appears to have decided against walking…
It's a bit early to reach that conclusion.
Once again the internal wranglings of the Tory Party take priority over the interests of the country
I wonder if Cummings days are numbered. If so, I suspect it will be down to the number of U turns the Torys have done over recent months. Cummings doesn't care - he'll see them background noise and just part of being a disrupter. The Party, however, see them as loosing face and weakening their brand / position.
Once again the internal wranglings of the Tory Party take priority over the interests of the country
It was always thus.
I suppose we can’t read much hope into this like Cain is going because Johnson is about to cave to the EU and Cummings will go with him….
Cummings is Gove's right hand man, in turn the other No 10 Mekon that is Cain is Cummings' right hand man. The populism that has riven the Conservative Party since 2019 has certainly won them votes, but as in America Covid has changed everything in that populist governments have been shown to be utterly inept at mitigating a pandemic. Whatever people's view might be about lockdown, the stark fact remains that in the UK we've had the worst of both worlds - economically destructive lockdowns plus a massive loss of life. Assertions of such intellectual luminaries as Hartley-Brewer, Brendan O'Neill, Toby Young et al that should just let the elderly contract Covid and slowly drown in their own pleural fluids have not gone down terribly well amongst the Conservatives' core voter base.
Aside from Brexit, the other element in the room is the fact that we're seeing colossal public spending commitments being made to shady businesses that happen to be part owned by people close to senior Conservatives. Serco's test and trace contract has cost more than two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and yet the project management deemed a 32 bit version of Excel to be sufficient to serve as a database. We're also seeing repurposed recycling bin liners being handed out to health workers as PPE. It's almost as if the taxpayer is being asset-stripped by amoral incompetents.
Serco’s test and trace contract has cost more than two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and yet the project management deemed a 32 bit version of Excel to be sufficient to serve as a database.
Not forgetting the thoroughly astute piece of project management which was expecting the demand for the T&T service to be the exact same, both before and after the mass movement / mixing event that was kids/students simultaneously returning to college/school.
Just seeking to complete the picture of what we're getting for two aircraft carriers worth of track and trace.
Have I just been distracted by, you know, mishandled pandemics and disastrous brexits and such, or have I not seen a blatant Cummings leak with "said BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg" after it for a while?
Just seeking to complete the picture of what we’re getting for two aircraft carriers worth of track and trace.
To be fair, one of those aircraft carriers leaked 😉
It does make you wonder if the impending Biden-induced Brexit capitulation by Johnson has got the Brexiteers running for the exits. Boris's entire Downing Street staff are from the Vote Leave campaign. They must surely see the writing on the wall? Their hard/no deal Brexit has been snatched away from them by those pesky American voters
NOt so Binners. Its still the aim and its still the only possible outcome
It isn't the only possible outcome though, is it, Uncle Jezza?
Until this week, I'd have said it had a certain inevitability to it, but after the US election result, things have changed. The GFA is now the pivotal issue. And the Brexiteers have been blase about it from day one. Now the reality of the situation has just been hammered home.
Surely the Vote Leave crew all fighting like rats in a sack would suggest that their No Deal dream is presently not the certainty it was this time last week?
Until this week, I’d have said it had a certain inevitability to it, but after the US election result, things have changed
We're in for a heck of a ride no matter what, the recent furore over Downing St's congratulations to Joe Biden having a hidden message courtesy of a photoshop blunder has TPA social media wrangler Chloe Westley's pungent stench all over it. Westley used to be known on Twitter as Low Tax Chloe, until people started quoting her as Low Facts Chloe, the latter being an accurate reflection of her inability to impart verifiable information.
To be fair, one of those aircraft carriers leaked
😀
My bet is it will be cheaper to fix up the war barge, than it will be to migrate the track and trace database from excel to SQL.
Have I just been distracted by, you know, mishandled pandemics and disastrous brexits and such, or have I not seen a blatant Cummings leak with “said BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg” after it for a while?
Maybe she's lost the keys to his gimp dungeon?
The prize they have been working towards for 20+ years is in reach. Yes a few of the less rabid ones might be having doubts now but those who actually are driving this? they care no one jot about anything but turning the UK into a low wage. low regulation money laudering state and they are not going to let go.
My bet is it will be cheaper to fix up the war barge, than it will be to migrate the track and trace database from excel to SQL.
A few tubes of bathroom silicone and it'll be fine.🙂
or have I not seen a blatant Cummings leak with “said BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg” after it for a while?
She is busy fighting his teams corner currently. This is a particular classic
"Number 10 door - PM's most senior advisor is staying on for now, despite departure of his close colleague, Mr Cain- understood to want to stay to work to combat coronavirus pandemic and in partic accelerate the mass testing programme"
Thank god he is selfishly deciding to stay and sort out covid.
My bet is it will be cheaper to fix up the war barge
I dunno. It is BAE in charge of it and they are as fond of hefty bills and underperforming products as much as the next supplier.
PM’s most senior advisor is staying on for now
I thought the use of "for now" was interesting wording.
I dunno. It is BAE in charge of it and they are as fond of hefty bills and underperforming products as much as the next supplier.
The problem is in the plumbing, I believe. Finding a good plumber is difficult.
Maybe Dido knows one?
I see Boris has bottled latest Presser. Probably literally...
I did notice that in the Guardian editorial the other day about Brexit and Covid, the final line was 'Its time for the prime minister to sober up and sort these issues out'
Hardly even bothering with the thinnest of veils anymore. They might as well have just printed "Oi! Dickhead! Stop getting pissed all day and do you ****ing job!!"
I'll bet the desperate piss artist begged Cain to leave it until after PMQs on a Wednesday to jump ship. That gives 6.75 days until De Pfeffel has to stagger to his feet again and the story will have cooled off a bit by then.
What a ramshackle crock of shit.
10 years ago Lee Cain was working for the mirror dressed as a chicken giving Cameron shit in the high street. How the mighty are fallen.
10 years ago Lee Cain was working for the mirror dressed as a chicken giving Cameron shit in the high street. How the mighty are fallen.
Sounds like a perfect apprenticeship for working at the circus that is now number 10.
The Biden victory has made a mockery of the 'take back control' messaging. Many knew it was b**locks all along but it's now looking pretty obvious to one and all that we're pretty lonely in the world right now, with Europe and now the US railing against us.
I'd submitted to the idea of a no deal Brexit but now I'm not so sure I can't recall a foreign election that has had as much influence on our politics, the first impact of a Biden presidency could be an adjustment to Brexit, and this before he's even been sworn in.
Not getting to exicted, Its a bit like hearing that your bike has been stolen but then finding out you still have the front wheel because the thieves couldn't brake the second lock. (Tyre is still slashed though)
Gary Lineker, subdued by the "your not entitled to an opinion rules" at the BBC, sticking to football for a change.
https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/1326880198604808193?s=20
I dunno. It is BAE in charge of it and they are as fond of hefty bills and underperforming products as much as the next supplier.
Budget Always Exceeded
I know everyone's got a hot take about Machiavellian political machinations regarding this Lee Cain business, but the truth may be more prosaic.
Apparently the reason he was nixed by Carrie Symonds (and other women) is becuase he's a bit of a wrong un, with a questionable history of behaviour around women.
Yes, perhaps that does explain why he appeared to get on so well with the PM, but also he may have been a bit of a timebomb.
And just a note on the James Slack thing - obviously the political editor of the Daily Mail is by definition a scumbag - but he probably wouldn't have been responsible for writing THAT headline.
He would have filed his copy and a sub-editor would most-likely have written the headline.
I'm sure it's a happy, positive, inclusive and diverse work culture in No. 10. They usually look a lot happier...
Okay, a bit happier.
A pair of gas giants everyone would like to see pummelled by meteorites.
.
They look like a couple of neds in a police line up